


Stolen Pen

by orphan_account



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff, High School, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, also i havent written in years so, i forgot how to tag lmao, maybe not even strangers wink wink, possible angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28797453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: High school is about love and learning, or something like that.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	1. 1.

**Author's Note:**

> i dont remember how to write well,,,, this is gonna be an adventure. PLUS i just joined this fandom idk how to write anyone properly bear with me

Mornings were always peaceful for Karl, especially the very early ones. The stillness of the earth, the light noises from outside, the sun barely taking it’s spot in the sky. He loved to sit on his bed and face his window, just admiring the world. The birds with their songs, the wind blowing softly through the cracks of his window, all of it made Karl smile. He usually never gets to appreciate them as much as he’d like, wanting to sleep in as long as possible before school, rushing out the house before he can really take in the serenity. 

This morning was one of them. 

Karl looked into his closet, biting his lip as he scanned his clothes, feeling panic erupting. School started in 20 minutes but he lives 15 minutes away. He tore off the sweater directly in front of him. He carefully then walked towards his bathroom while pulling the sweater over his head. Staring into the dirty mirror, he looked directly into his eyes, sighing before brushing his teeth. He looked very tired. The bags under his eyes and the messiness of his hair, all of it made him frown.

Karl flew down the stairs, grabbing his backpack. He ran his fingers through his hair, double checking he had everything he needed as he made his way to the door. He stopped for a second, blinking slowly, still struggling to wake up. He checked the time on his phone. Karl’s eyes widened, shoving more things he deemed important into his bag and grabbed a Monster energy drink. He had ten minutes.

He never leaves this late. His alarm didn’t wake him up, him being in too deep of a sleep from staying up all night with Alex. Groaning as he slipped into his car, he didn’t bother to play any music, sipping periodically on his drink. He drove in complete silence, concentrating on the road, praying in his head that he’ll somehow make it there on time. The silence was crippling, his thoughts overpowering him.

Karl tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently while he waited for the red light to change, anxiety growing in his stomach. He hates being late, he hates rushing, he hates everything about this situation. He despises it. The uneasiness was increasing, his mind whirling around with thoughts, the coolness of his drink lingering on his palm.

The light turned green.

The student parking lot was packed, along with the areas near the school. Karl placed his head on his steering wheel in annoyance, wishing that his mom could’ve dropped him off. Debating to just leave his car anywhere and jump out, he spotted a place and let out a large breath, a smile forming on his face. 

He ran to the front of the school, slipping past a few stragglers who didn’t seem to care about how late they were. The adrenaline rushing through his veins, he felt his brain going into autopilot for a split moment. Speed walking, Karl looked into his bag once more, his grip becoming tighter when he noticed he didn't have his english book on him. It was sitting peacefully in his locker. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that he doesn’t need it that much today.

The bell rang, causing Karl to walk as fast as he could without running, barely entering his first period before the teacher closed the door. Looking around quickly, Karl went towards the first seat open. He dipped his head down, avoiding eye contact as he sat down at the desk, his face turning red. He usually sits in the front, so being further in the back made his anxiety spike. Biting his cheek, he rummaged through his backpack, pulling out anything to make up for not having his book. He laid his drink under his desk, attempting to make note that it was under him. Sighing deeply, Karl finally looked up at the teacher, his mind drifting as she took his attendance.

He lost track of time, all of a sudden feeling a light tap on the side of his arm, startling him. Shifting his head slightly, he noticed the guy beside him had a soft but stressed expression. Karl sucked in a breath, his heart beating out of time as he stared at him. He never gets unprompted attention from anyone besides his friends or teachers, so when this stranger gave him the gentlest smile, he was caught off guard. Karl quickly took in the student’s features, taking note of his bright eyes, the scruff of his beard, and how his hair fell right in its place. He wanted to observe the student some more, but seeing a hand wave in front of his eyes, Karl noticed he was staring. He tilted his head down for a brief moment, feeling his face turn hot.

“Do you have something I can write with?”, the guy whispered, not seeming to notice him blushing. Karl blinked twice before rushing to grab his pencil case. He bit his tongue as he handed the first thing he grabbed, which was his favorite pen. The pen had five different colors and wrote so smoothly that it made Karl’s handwriting look nice. It had a tiny, green swirl sticker on the side, complimenting the bright purple of the pen. The guy grabbed it with a bigger smile, admiring it for a few seconds before sending Karl a grin. “Thank you,” he said, immediately starting to write down notes.

Karl stared at him for a couple more seconds before nodding to himself, looking back at the teacher. He scolded himself in his head for not noticing she started the lesson already. Flipping through his notebook, he looked at all the colorful pages he passed with sadness, realizing he couldn’t make today’s notes bright. Frowning, he started to write with a basic pen, trying his hardest to focus.

Throughout the class, his brain was zoned in on taking notes. At one point, he leaned over to be closer to the boy, trying to subtly read his textbook. He ended up tilting his book and gave Karl a grin, making the other’s heart stop. The stranger intruded Karl’s thoughts anytime he tried to focus after that. By the time that first period ended and people were packing up for second, the boy next to him was gone, along with his pen. Karl threw his head back in frustration, standing up with his stuff with sunken shoulders, nearly knocking over his drink. Swiftly grabbing it and taking a long sip, letting the precipitation ground him, Karl tried to avoid the burning feeling in his chest. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, and to be completely honest, he didn’t have the time to find out.

The morning was slipping away as the air had become warmer. Karl felt a bit grumpy, the sun making him sweat a little, irritating him. He took a deep breath as he sat down at the table with his friends, his mood perking up.

His friend, George, smiled widely at him, piping up over Alex as he yelled about something dumb. “You made it! I thought you had died or something. You never saw our messages,” George said as he put on a fake pout.

“Yeah, man. You’re always up before us. What the fuck happened?” Alex had a light tone to his voice, laughing out loud as Karl kicked his foot.

“Nothing, just woke up a bit late is all,” Karl gave them a small smile, rolling his eyes as George fake gasped. Karl kicked his foot, too. 

This became a kicking war until Alex and George started a new conversation, becoming louder as more of their friends made it to the table. They immediately roped them in with their laughter. Karl smiled at them, taking a small bite out of his food as he stared at nothing. He silently chewed, his mind wandering to his first period, the weird feeling still in his stomach. He started to think about the guy, about his pen being gone now, about how he didn’t even know his name. He had never seen that student before but he looked very familiar. Karl furrowed his eyebrows, drifting off into his own world as his friends around him continued their yelling. 

Karl didn’t stop racking his brain trying to figure out who that guy was. Something about him made it impossible for Karl to focus on anything but the thought of him, to pay attention to his teachers as they talked about whatever he was learning. By the end of the day, Karl still had no clue who the stranger was, frustration just barely grasping his mind. He was walking out his last period and was planning out how he was going to find him tomorrow when he felt arms wrap around his shoulders, nearly tugging him down.

“Are we still hanging out at your house, Karlos?”, Alex chirped, pressing his full weight down on him. A large grin formed on Karl’s face as he stumbled, nodding enthusiastically as George yelled in excitement beside him. Karl laughed, not seeing George walk up, delighted by his presence. Forgetting about the pen thief, they made their way to his car. He was being entertained by his friends' energy, surprised by how they still had so much for it being the end of school. 

The loud voices in his car kept his mind occupied, kept it focused on everything but the guy he met. He was grateful, but deep down, he wished he could’ve let himself think a little harder. Even if he wasted the entire day doing it, he never solved the mystery, causing him to feel unsatisfied. He knew he couldn’t dwell on it. He didn’t have time to.


	2. 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im slowly getting better at writing lol

Karl picked a Monster out of the fridge, slamming it shut before his friends could reach it. “Stay away! I’m still not over how you spilled the milk inside from last time,” Karl giggled, watching as Alex rolled his eyes.

“It was one time! Plus, I’m fucking starving. I’m getting food whether you like it or not,” Alex instantly launched himself at Karl, their loud laughter filling the air as they wrestled. George shook his head, leaning against the counter. 

“You guys are such idiots,” George said, watching Karl almost fall down. He wiggled around, his face turning red from laughter. He didn’t even notice as George ran his fingers through his hair, casually walking and opening the fridge as they had accidentally moved from the front of it. Karl gasped, immediately letting go of the boy still playfully hitting him. He tried to rush to George but Alex had a death grip on his midsection, trying to bring him down to the floor.

“Grab anything that looks good! I’ll hold him down!”, Alex yelled, his laughters becoming sharp shrills. Karl attempted to wiggle away again, being trapped in the other’s arms. George shrugged, grabbing an orange and tossing it onto Alex’s head. He let go with a huff, glaring at the orange. “Really? A fruit?”, Alex whined, swatting Karl’s hand as he offered to help him up.

Karl giggled, pulling his sleeves over his hands to grab his Monster that was abandoned some point ago, avoiding getting his hands cold. He motioned to have his friends walk in front of him, despite Alex’s begging for something else. With a wide grin, Karl let George lead the way to his room. When they arrived, he plugged his phone into the outlet to charge. Alex dramatically flopped onto the bed, his face buried in the blankets. Pulling one from under him, Karl laid it on the floor, sitting it in between where his bed and George were. 

“So, what’s the plan?”, George asked, ignoring the groan that erupted out of Alex. He observed how Karl moved, his head tilting to pretend he was thinking.

“We can play some minecraft?”.

“That’s all we’ve been doing recently,” Alex’s voice was muffled, his face buried in fabric. 

“Okay? And?”. Karl said with a laugh, hitting the flying pillow away from his face, slamming it down on his lap with a wide grin. “We can talk about our feelings if you hate minecraft that much.”

“The fuck?”, Alex piped up, setting Karl into a fit of giggles, causing him to lie down. Throwing his orange, Alex spoke up, “ Is this a therapy session?”. Laughing even louder, a smile rested on Alex’s lips as he looked at Karl, his eyes shifting to the other person in the room. George met their eyes, a similar smile on his face.

“Why don’t we play some minecraft and talk about our feelings?”, George spoke up, chuckling.

“I was mostly joking but if you guys want to, we can.”, Karl laughed out. Alex shook his head, collapsing back onto the bed. “Do you have something better to do?”, playfully snarking at his friend, Karl glared at Alex.

“Fine, I’ll talk about my feelings. I feel like this is stupid.”

“Good job!”, George jested, smiling as Alex frantically looked for another pillow to throw. “My feelings are that I need new friends.”

Both of his friends started to make sarcastic remarks at the other, their voices becoming farther in the distance in Karl's mind. He changed his view to be on his lap, thinking. He went over his day in his head, from the hectic morning to the conversation happening in his own room. He thought about how he didn’t bring his book to class. He thought about the boy with his pen. He thought about spending an entire hour thinking about him. He thought about talking to him again.

It was weird, Karl was content with his friendships. He never wanted more. He never wanted less. His best friends were George and Alex, he technically didn’t need anyone else. He had smaller friendships and acquaintances, but he met them all through one of the two of them. He hadn’t gone out of the way to talk and befriend someone since the beginning of high school. After George transferred to their school halfway through 9th grade, Karl knew that all he needed was him and Alex.

He wasn’t opposed to new people, he was sure he wasn’t. Karl just wasn’t a very social person, not wanting to interfere in other people’s businesses and pre-existing friendships. He didn’t understand what it was with the pen thief, why he wanted to talk to him so badly. Karl shook his head, trying to shake his thoughts away, landing on the idea that he just wants his pen back. 

“Karl? Earth to Karl? Karl!”

Flickering his eyes, Karl raised his vision to his friends, a sheepish expression glued onto his face. Both of them were standing in front of him, making Karl a bit nervous. George seemed to notice, crouching down in front of him, waving Alex down to join him. 

“Are you okay?”, Alex asked as he sat down, patting Karl’s knee.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m okay. Just thinking”.

“Maybe we needed to talk about feelings after all”.

Karl was walking towards his english class, covering his hands with his sweater as he tightened his grip on his drink. He had a nervous smile on his lips, anxious about talking to the pen thief, anxious about confronting him, anxious about being near him. He sighed, walking into the classroom, hoping that he could get enough courage.

He stumbled on his feet, scanning the room for the guy. Karl’s eyes locked onto him, but shifted over to see the seat next to him was taken. He sat next to the wall and there weren’t any other seats open around him. Pursing his lips, Karl tried to nonchalantly look at them while walking to a free seat.

The boy next to him had blond hair and light eyes, saying something to the other boy that was making him laugh loudly. His bright green hoodie felt blinding, almost as distracted as the pen thief’s laugh. A weird feeling washed over Karl as he sat down a few seats in front of them, furrowing his eyebrows. He stared at his backpack resting on the desk, biting the inside of his cheek. He felt confused. He felt frustrated. Actually, he didn’t actually know what he was feeling, but he assumed it was one of the two at least. He got out his pencil case, a pang in his heart as he remembered what had happened. 

Pulling at his hair, Karl took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. There was something wrong. There was definitely something wrong. He gulped, hesitantly opening his eyes once more, grabbing a regular, black ballpoint pen. Resisting the urge to turn around, to look at the two of them, he kept his focus glued on the whiteboard. Unfortunately, his mind happened to be elsewhere. Somewhere far away, somewhere he didn’t quite know. It was filled with the laughter he heard behind him, taunting him, luring him in. 

It was unbearable.

By the time class ended, Karl hadn’t processed or written anything. He blinked down at his empty sheet of paper, his stomach churning. He was too occupied with the wasted time in class that he almost missed his chance. The two friends had walked right past his desk, their voices seeming to be louder than the other classmates. Karl sprang into action, shoving everything carelessly into his backpack, trying to get out the class in time. He threw his bag on his back and rushed out, searching for the two, a small sense of panic fueling his brain.

Karl’s eyes frantically looked at each and everyone student, finally spotting a bright green hoodie turn the corner. A smile formed, Karl’s legs taking him the opposite way of his next class. He weaved his way through the crowd of people, spotting them once he was a bit farther away from the hectic mess of students. Walking over with glee, Karl made it directly behind them, overthinking how to get their attention. Luckily, the pen thief noticed him immediately.

“Hey!”, the guy said all of a sudden, causing his blond friend to quiet down. Karl’s eyes widened, his new confidence drizzling out his body. The guy’s voice sounded pleasantly sweet, washing over Karl with a warm feeling. It made a tiny smile form on his mouth and a tense feeling in his chest.

“Are you good?”, the blond asked, a sincere undertone in his voice. Blinking, Karl looked down for a split second, returning his gaze to them once again with embarrassment. 

He was nervous. He never was good with conversations without Alex and George. They mostly talk to the people while he silently nods along. This would be good practice, if only he wasn’t so distracted by the man standing in front of him. 

Karl was kicking himself in his head, desperately trying to figure out what to say. He racked his brain, thinking of hundreds of responses. The pen thief suddenly opened his mouth, just about to say something, but Karl had shot out a response before he got a chance to.

“What’s your name?”, he squeaked out, biting down hard on his tongue, his voice cracking. 

“I’m Nick, and this is Clay,” the blond rose his hand when he heard his name, “I spoke to you yesterday, right? I didn’t get your name either”.

“Karl”, he tried to stand still, straightening up his back. He was a bit taller than Nick. He noted that in his brain. 

“Well, it was nice meeting you Karl, but Nick and I really need to get to class,” Clay spoke while patting Nick on the shoulder. He smiled down at Karl.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, Karl!”, Nick gave him a soft but bright grin, swiftly turning around with Clay right on his tail. Karl simply just stood in the hallway, opening and closing his mouth as he watched them walk away. The bell rang loudly in his ears after a moment. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, but he noticed his breathing was uneven and his face felt hot. Huffing, Karl glared down at the ground, realizing he didn’t even ask about his pen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also idk how often i can update this but i'll try to stay frequent!

**Author's Note:**

> this is so boring hhhh i regret


End file.
